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Many of the popular children’s vitamins on the market contain levels of vitamins much higher than the recommended daily allowances, according to a Research Letter published in the online edition of JAMA Pediatrics yesterday.

Researchers from the LECOM School of Pharmacy in Erie, Pennsylvania analyzed the labels of 193 popular children’s vitamins, dividing them into vitamins intended for babies under one year of age and those intended for children ages 1 to 3. The conclusion: the content of each many of the primary vitamins included was significantly higher than the adequate intake or recommended daily allowance (RDA) for that vitamin.

Using the Dietary Supplement Label Database, a project recently launched by the Office of Dietary Medicine and the National Library of Medicine , researchers Michael M. Madden, Danielle Debias and G. Elliott Cook found that many of the vitamins contained double or more the recommended allowances. The vitamins that were furthest over the recommended allowances were:

Biotin: More than 900 percent of adequate intake

Vitamin B12: More than 500 percent of adequate intake

Vitamin C: Almost 500 percent of adequate intake

Vitamin B6: 350 percent of adequate intake

Riboflavin: More than 300 percent of adequate intake

Thiamin: Almost 300 percent of adequate intake

Vitamin A: Almost 300 percent of adequate intake

Niacin: 250 percent of adequate intake

Vitamin E: More than 200 percent of adequate intake

As the researchers write, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends against infant vitamin supplementation above the RDA for the vitamins C, E, K, B6, and B2, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, biotin, choline, and vitamin A (caratenoids). As you can see, most of these vitamins are on the list above.

Vitamin Levels in Dietary Supplements by Intended Pediatric User Group, as published in JAMA Pediatrics

Why is this such an issue? Recent studies have found that many vitamins are unhealthy and even dangerous in large quantities. According to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, too much vitamin A can cause dizziness, nausea, headaches, and even coma and death, and too much vitamin B6 can over time cause nerve damage, nausea, and over-sensitivity to sunlight. Too much niacin can cause over-heating and skin tingling, known as “niacin flush.”

“We contend, based on our analysis, that much of the pediatric vitamin supplementation is not based on IOM recommendations and therefore represents wholesale oversupplementation,” the authors write.

Officially titled Market Analysis sof Vitamin Supplementation in Infants and Children, the report was written by Michael M. Madden, Danielle Debias of the LECOM School of Pharmacy in Erie, Pennsylvania and G.Elliott Cook of BCPS and was published online yesterday in advance of print publication.

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